Cowsill’s Blast Helps Verdugo Hills Open District Playoffs With 9-3 Win

After a pair of hard-hit foul balls, Newhall-Saugus Coach Pat Eggleston suspected foul play. He walked a few feet toward home plate and beseeched the plate umpire to inspect the cap on the aluminum bat of Brendon Cowsill.

Cowsill, the Verdugo Hills third baseman, seemed perplexed.

A corked bat? Me?

“I think Pat was trying to get into his head,” Verdugo Hills Coach Kelly Magee said. “Pat’s been around. He knows the tricks.”

Cowsill un corked a two-run homer on the next pitch to tie the score as Verdugo Hills rallied from a three-run deficit Tuesday to hammer Newhall-Saugus, 9-3, in a first-round game of the American Legion District 20 playoffs at Burroughs High.

Newhall-Saugus (17-7) will face Sun Valley today at 4 p.m. in an elimination game at College of the Canyons. Sun Valley lost to Granada Hills West, 7-6, in another first-round game Tuesday.

Verdugo Hills (21-3) will play the winner of today’s game between Van Nuys-Notre Dame and Granada Hills West on Thursday.

Cowsill’s blast tied the score, 3-3, in the sixth and helped shake the cobwebs from Verdugo Hills right-hander Josh Canale, who had struggled on the mound in the first few innings.

Canale’s about-face, in fact, helped him save face with his teammates, who had grown tired of his wildness. Canale (5-1) walked the first four batters he faced as Verdugo Hills fell behind, 2-0, in the first.

“People kept saying, ‘Don’t walk him. Let him hit the ball,’ ” Canale said. “Geez, I wasn’t trying to walk anybody.”

Soon thereafter, it was a walk in the park. Canale retired 21 consecutive batters before surrendering a pair of two-out singles in the ninth. Canale gave up five singles, struck out nine and walked four.

“I could tell by the look in his eyes that I had to let him go (longer),” Magee said. “He always seems to battle through it.”

After Cowsill’s homer, Verdugo Hills put the game away with three runs in the seventh against John Maggiora (6-2) and reliever Jamie Ray. With runners on first and second, and the score tied, 3-3, Ray relieved Maggiora and wild-pitched the runners up a notch. Canale was intentionally walked to load the bases for Ivan Moreno.

Moreno didn’t exactly crush the ball, sending a looper into short right field to drive home two runs and hand Verdugo Hills a 5-3 lead.

Canale later scored on an error. Moreno added a two-run double in the eighth to key a three-run rally that gave Verdugo Hills a 9-3 lead.